The field of the invention is methods and apparatus for moving a patient, and in particular, a patient laying in a generally horizontal position.
Providing medical care requires patients to be frequently transported. Wheelchairs are used where possible, but when a patient is, for example, postoperative or unconscious, stretchers or gurneys must be used to move the patients while in the horizontal or lying position.
Transferring patients from a bed or operating table onto a gurney, or from a gurney onto a bed or operating table, depending on the size and condition of the patient and that of the nurse or other health care professional, can be a difficult task. Frequently, the patient""s medical condition prevents the nurse from directly lifting the patient. Therefore, to transfer the patient onto a gurney, a bed or an operating table, nurses typically grab the draw sheet beneath the patient and lift or slide the patient. However, this may cause the patient discomfort if the draw sheet slips from the nurse""s grasp. Moreover, generally two or more nurses are needed to move a patient in this way. Heavy patients are especially difficult to move by pulling on the draw sheet.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide improved methods and apparatus for moving a patient between a bed, gurney, table or other horizontal surface.
In a first aspect of the invention, a patient transfer device includes a flat hollow tube having open ends., The tube can roll or slide on itself. The tube reduces sliding friction when moving a patient. A lubricant is optionally provided on the inside surface of the tube to reduce sliding friction.
In a second aspect, a flattened hollow tube having open ends is provided under the patient and the draw sheet. The draw sheet is pulled to move the patient. The tube reduces sliding friction between the draw sheet and the bed sheet. The patient can therefore be more easily pulled from one bed, gurney, or table onto another.
In a third aspect, tubes are provided on a roll, similar to the plastic fruit and vegetable bags provided in supermarkets. A seam having perforations connects each tube on the roll with adjacent tubes. The tubes may be quickly and easily pulled off the roll, as needed.
The tubes, either on the roll, or packaged individually, may optionally be sterilized.
The invention resides as well in subcombinations of the features and steps described.